Staff
Tyler Miller saw the train coming but kept his team standing on the tracks anyway.
The head coach of the Fort Frances Canadians squad that took part in the Bantam ‘AAA’ Division at the Ontario Hockey Federation Championships in Thunder Bay last week knew beforehand that his squad likely was in for a rough ride.
“This is a tournament that people like Connor McDavid have come out of, so you know there’s a lot of talented players competing,” Miller had said the week prior.
“We’re going to have a difficult time down there most likely.”
His assumption proved to be on the mark as the Canadians ended up in last place in the seven-team group with an 0-6 record, getting outscored 39-7 in the process.
The result likely was inevitable with the Canadians being a thrown-together team made up of Fort Frances Bantam ‘AA’ Canadians and other players from across Northwestern Ontario.
The Canadians first faced the North Bay Trappers, who prevailed 6-1 win.
Dylan Winsor had the lone Canadians’ goal.
Braden Bodnarchuk and Ben Hackl then scored in an 8-2 loss to the York-Simcoe Express before the Canadians were dumped 10-1 by the Toronto Marlboros.
Bodnarchuk was the goal scorer in that one.
Two of the last three games saw the Canadians be much more competitive, starting with a 4-1 defeat to the Ottawa Jr. 67s.
Kaleb Bruyere had the lone marker.
The host Thunder Bay Kings were not so hospitable, though, dumping the Canadians 8-2.
Winsor netted both goals in that game.
In their last chance to crack the win column, the Canadians were blanked 3-0 by the Cambridge Hawks.
Toronto beat York-Simcoe 2-1 in the championship game.
